The Long PT. CBC was held on Saturday, December 20th. Forty-three observers covered the circle on a pleasant day when the temperature ranged from -7C to OC, the winds were almost non-existent and the skies were partly sunny. There was no snow cover and while the marshes were frozen, the waters of Lake Erie and Long Pt. Inner Bay were open.
Most observers commented on the difficulty of finding passerines which may have been a result of the nice weather allowing birds to spread out across the landscape and making them more difficult to find. Parties with open water in their areas were blessed with an abundance of waterfowl. At the end of the day this abundance led to an above average count of 66,087 individuals of 107 species, which is just above this century's average of 105. A first-basic Thayer's Gull found on the ice below Port Rowan by Ross Wood was a new species added to the all-time list. Record counts of species included: 26,081 Redheads 730 Sandhill Cranes 4 Merlins 58 Eastern Screech-Owls 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls 65 Red-bellied Woodpeckers 16 Pileated Woodpeckers Other woodpeckers were abundant as well and may be a result of the great number of dead Ash Trees in the county. Seventeen Great Horned Owls were well above recent counts and may have been a result of the absolutely calm cool conditions before sunrise as well as a slightly increased owling effort. The 13 Snowy Owls counted, while shy of the record 15 seen in 1991, were indicative of the widespread influx in the Great Lakes region this winter. I'd like to thank the 43 observers that participated this year as well as my wife Anne Marie and Paula Gent for preparing the great meal at BSC headquarters that evening. Ron Ridout [email protected] 519 586 3531 x114 _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
